{"id":426,"date":"2009-12-03T16:24:30","date_gmt":"2009-12-03T16:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/apagansblog\/2009\/12\/reinventing-the-sacred-by-stuart-kauffman.html"},"modified":"2009-12-03T16:24:30","modified_gmt":"2009-12-03T16:24:30","slug":"reinventing-the-sacred-by-stuart-kauffman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2009\/12\/reinventing-the-sacred-by-stuart-kauffman.html","title":{"rendered":"Reinventing the Sacred by Stuart Kauffman"},"content":{"rendered":"

Books exploring the philosophical
\nimplications of science by contemporary scientists tend to fall into two
\ncategories: those that assert and explore the implications of scientific
\nreductionism and those that explore the implications of quantum physics.  <\/span>Neither is directly relevant o a Pagan
\nworld view, and both can be used to attack it.  <\/span>Now Stuart Kauffman’s Reinventing the Sacred<\/a> offers us a
\npowerful volume deeply friendly to Pagan sensibilities.<\/span>
\n<\/p>\n


\nBooks rooted in the traditional scientific worldview, such as Jacques Monod’s Chance
\nand Necessity<\/i><\/a>, assert that at its core everything can be reduced to the motions and
\nconnections of particles. That ultimately all knowledge can be reduced to
\nphysics.  <\/span>Our universe is a
\nmeaningless one, our values the imaginings of minds that themselves are the
\nresults of invariant scientific laws.<\/p>\n

The <\/span>second, such as Fritjof Capra’s The
\nTao of Physics,<\/i><\/a>   <\/span>explore similarities between the
\nquantum world and the outlooks of Asian religious thought, particularly
\nBuddhism and other NonDual outlooks. 
\n<\/span>Far from reductionistic, nevertheless the material world around us tends
\nto be seen as a realm of illusion, masking a “truer” reality.  <\/span>Like the reductionists, our messy world
\nof individuality, creativity, and beauty gets second billing.<\/span>Kauffman offers a perspective that
\nincorporates the insights of both reductionistic science and the implications
\nof the quantum realm, while shifting our primary attention to the world in
\nwhich we live as the primary location of the Sacred.  <\/span>This alone makes it of interest to Pagans curious as to how
\nthe discoveries of modern science might relate to a Pagan world-view.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>By contrast, Kauffman, one of the leading thinkers on emergent order theory, offers an account that focuses on this world we human being experience as a place of incredible wonder. Relying mostly on research in biology,
\nKauffman argues our world, and probably the universe, is a place of unending
\ncreativity, from the most basic chemistry in interstellar clouds to human
\nculture.  <\/span>It cannot be understood
\nreductionistically, but is a self-organizing creative force that does not
\nviolate the laws of physics, but is not controlled by them.  <\/span>Agency, value, and creativity are as
\nfundamental to our world as the insights of physicists.<\/p>\n

Kauffman makes his argument from entirely within the scientific perspective, using it to offer the best criticism of reductionism I have ever read.   Nor does his critique require bringing in extra-scientific concepts.  His discussion of hos morality emerges from evolutionary processes is a good introduction to a fascinating topic.  He takes the time to treat “Creation Science” as a genuine scientific argument, and shows how on scientific grounds it is rebutted.   All these strengths and more await the reader.<\/p>\n

Less satisfying is his treatment of spiriuality..  He ignored experience and assumes aspects of existence that can not yet be explained scientifically, such as consciousness itself, will in time be understood without reference to deities of any sort.  Yet his personal outlook is pantheistc in many respects, and whether we agree with him on these issues or not is irrelevant to my mind.  His book is that good.
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Books exploring the philosophical implications of science by contemporary scientists tend to fall into two categories: those that assert and explore the implications of scientific reductionism and those that explore the implications of quantum physics.  Neither is directly relevant o a Pagan world view, and both can be used to attack it.  Now Stuart Kauffman’s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[112,105,12,108],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nature","category-pagan-spirituality","category-science-and-technology","category-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nReinventing the Sacred by Stuart Kauffman - A Pagan's Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2009\/12\/reinventing-the-sacred-by-stuart-kauffman.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reinventing the Sacred by Stuart Kauffman - 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